To make ss aware of the four basic parameters: material, size, shape, colour

To learn the phrases and grammar structures (+ learn and repeat the objects vocabulary):

- 1. I spy with my little eye something that is made of (wood, plastic, rubber, stone) (parallelly we are practicing the sounds w,th – phonetic section)

- 2. I spy with my little eye something that is (bigger /smaller) than the …(given object)

- 3. I spy with my little eye something that is (a circle, a triangle, a square, a rectangle) in shape

- 4. I spy with my little eye something that is (colour).

- Is it the …(name of the object in the classroom)? ( to learn to ask questions)

Materials I am going to use

- four posters with the names of the stations – MATERIAL, SIZE, SHAPE, COLOUR )

- cards with colours, shapes, names and photos of materials

- objects in the classroom

Tasks I am going to use :

T and SS sit on a train and start their journey. The first station is Material. Here we repeat the materials and start to play the “I spy” game. Ss stick to the objects that are made of wood (if the feature named is “wood”) and ask - Is it the (table)? The one, who guessed correctly, starts a new round.

Then the T commands: “Sit on the train” and SS continue their journey till the station “Size”. We choose an object for comparing (last time it was my Mediator Bunjie (I have a new one). And the object in the class was guessed in comparison with Bunjie (bigger, smaller).

The journey continues through the station “Shape” till the station “Colour” where the objects in the class are chosen according to the parameter needed. So ss are looking for the objects, that are rounds, rectangular, or green , yellow accordingly.

When the journey is over, the T asks the ss what did we do? Did they like the journey?

2. Lesson / task description – after

Procedures (The journey took about 20-30 minutes depending on the group. As we only started such activity, much time was dedicated to phonetics – SS had to learn the phrase “I spy…” and the question sample. We also discussed the “Material” issue in mother tongue. In younger groups there were misunderstandings with shape – not all of the ss (4-5 year olds) could correspond the plastic shape in their hands to the object in the classroom.

Learners’ response and outputs (SS enthusiastically searched for the objects. They were eager to win (to name the guessed object). Some of the older students (6 y.o) started to pronounce this long phrase (I Spy…) by themselves after several repetitions with me and the classmates answered them correctly (Is it the table?). There were some confusions regarding plastic and glass objects, but we solved them, by making a pause in the game and discussing the material all together. Younger ss (4-5 y.o.) managed the tasks at a slower pace, but still the train managed to stop at all stations. The ss liked the journey.

As to reflecting on the experience, the older ss (6-7 y.o.) told, that we were searching for circles, glass…The T had to correct them by précising that they were searching for the objects that were red or made of glass or were a rectangle or a square in shape.

Teacher’s role (The T had to control the choice of objects. Also, the T had to drill the phrases with the ss, to stress the accurate pronunciation of the sounds, to organise the one-by-one answers, to manage the class, so that the dynamics was kept.)

3. Overall reflection on the lesson / task

Aim aspect (We’ve reached the aim at some extent, because ss were searching for the objects with the needed features of a certain parameter at each station. This disposition has a future potential, because we can add new stations (parameters).)

Tasks & materials aspect (Step 1. (increase room for thinking) – at each station we discussed the objects around us from different perspectives (material, size, shape, colour). We set the limitations (when searching for a triangular object we couldn’t point at the red one). Step 2 (build the stairs with learners) – we concentrated at a certain parameter, thus making a notion of it in ss’ minds. Step 3 (reflect on how the steps helped) – at the moment we didn’t reach such level of awareness. What we managed to reflect on was to realise that at each station we looked for a wooden object, for red object… (but we did this reflection only with the older students (6-7 y.o).

Questions / conclusions for the future. I think that after mastering the skill of noticing the parameters and features, we could 1. Combine the parameters and search for objects, naming 2 or 3 features. 2. Learn the art of creating riddles.

Comments

Here I would like to mention some observations regarding my ss' behaviour, reactions and emotions at second TA lesson of the type. At the next lesson a 6 year old boy from the older group started to ask additional questions to narrow the searching field. At the station "Shape" he asked about the size (What's the size?) and about material (What is it made of?). I was very glad to see how smart he was. It is the only the older group now (6-7 y.o.) where everyone has a chance to make a simple riddle, telling "I spy..." at each station. In the three other groups ss repeat after T and stick to the object chosen. Then they ask: "Is it the...?". I also noticed some progress in the ss' articulation and the speed of thinking. Now they know what to do at each station and the process of our question - answers goes faster. I think, by the end of this month everyone will have a chance to say the phrase "I spy..." at each station.As to the reflection on the activity, even the youngest girl (4,6 y.o.) told me that she liked the game and we were searching for OBJECTS that were red, circle in shape. I was also glad to hear it, because I didn't receive such precise answer from my older ss.